In a switching system in which a transmitter is temporarily connected to a receiver through a switch, and the transmitter sends a frame of data to the receiver through the switch, the data may not be properly transmitted if the interval during which the connection exists does not include the time interval during which the frame arrives and traverses the switch. The time at which the frame arrives at the switch may be affected by the propagation delay from the transmitter to the switch, which may not be well known, a priori. Moreover, in some systems where throughput efficiency is important, a fast acquisition receiver is used, and hence data may be lost if the receiver is not in a suitable receiving mode when the frame arrives at the receiver. This time interval may be affected by the propagation delay from the switch to the receiver which also may not be well known, a priori.
Thus, there is a need for measuring delays in a switching system.